BERLIN -- The Roman Catholic world greeted the news of Pope Benedict XVI's departure Monday, Feb. 11, with surprise, concern for his health and more than a little understanding that an 85-year-old man no longer had the strength to lead a global flock of 1 billion faithful.

Citing failing strength of "mind and body," the pontif said he would step down Feb. 28, bringing an outpouring of tributes matched only by speculation about his health, about his future and that of a church in transition.

"Like Catholics across the world, I was completely surprised to learn of today's announcement by the Holy Father that he plans to resign the papacy for health reasons. ... At the same time, I am saddened by the thought of losing his strong leadership for the church," said Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Perhaps nowhere outside of the Vatican was it bigger news than Germany, where even non-Catholics took inordinate pride in their countryman's leading the Roman Catholic Church.

The website of the newspaper Bild, which famously declared "We Are Pope" nearly eight years ago when Benedict was elected, ran a headline that read "Our German Pope Benedict Steps Down," followed by his entire statement in German on a slightly mottled brown background, as if it were old parchment.

Relatives, friends, church colleagues and lay Catholics around the world were shocked by the suddenness of the decision to hand over the reins of the Vatican to a successor while he was still alive.

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"It came as a bolt out of the blue," said Tadeusz Goclowski, archbishop emeritus of Gdansk in northern Poland, speaking on Polsat News television.

But Don Briel, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, said the resignation was not entirely unexpected.

"The last this happened was 600 years ago, so it's hardly commonplace," said Briel. "But in 2010, the pope indicated that he saw resignation as something that a contemporary pope had to consider, given that medical technology enables people to live longer.

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI waves to wellwishers as he leaves the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, following a vespers service. Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, he would resign Feb. 28 because he is simply too old to carry on. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, Pool, File)

... So people have been speculating ever since then."

At first blush criticism was muted for a pope with a controversial term, marred by child-abuse scandals and growing discord over conservative stances on issues such as divorce and women in the clergy.

Hans Kung, a leading critic of the pope, called his decision to step down "understandable for many reasons," according to the German news agency dpa.

But Kung said so many conservative cardinals had been named during his tenure it would be difficult to find someone "who could lead the church out of its multifaceted crisis."

"No pope before him made more strides to improve the relationship with the Jews -- on so many levels," said Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress who met with Benedict on three occasions at the Vatican.

Although they did not agree on everything, Lauder said, "he always had an outstretched hand and an open ear for Jewish leaders."

The Most Rev. Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, called Benedict "a witness to the universal scope of the gospel and a messenger of hope at a time when Christian faith is being called into question."

The strongest criticism came from the victims of clerical sexual abuse, who faulted him for failing to take stronger steps or, in some eyes, any steps at all.

"This pope had a great opportunity to finally address the decades of abuse in the church, but at the end of the day he did nothing but promise everything and in the end he ultimately delivered nothing," John Kelly of the Survivors of Child Abuse support group told Agence France-Presse.

The archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, told RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster, that the pope would be mainly remembered for his writings on theology. He said the pope had a clear understanding of some of the moral problems confronting the church and had addressed them "head on."

"He'll be remembered for his engagement with modern secular culture," Briel said. "Pope John Paul II was focused on the fall of the East; Benedict was focused on the loss of faith in the West."

Speaking to a reporter from the German news agency dpa in Regensburg, his brother, Georg Ratzinger, said Benedict was having increasing difficulty walking, and that his doctor had advised against any more transatlantic journeys.

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing at the end of a meeting of Vatican cardinals, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. (Associated Press/L'Osservatore Romano)

"My brother wants more peace in old age," said Ratzinger, who also is a priest and said he had known for months that his brother planned to step down.

A former student of the pope, the Rev. Vincent Twomey, now a top theologian based in the Catholic seminary in Maynooth, Ireland, said the pontiff did not look well last summer.

"One thing that's been clear is that he simply has not been able to govern," said Briel. "He's getting weaker, clearly. He'll be 86 in two months and his personal physician told him he can't do international travel, which is such a part of the modern pontificate."